The entertainment lighting industry is serviced by a number of different manufacturers. Common connectors are often used so that different units can be interchanged. For example, a controller from Company A may be used to control a light from Company B. A lighting designer, who is often not associated with either company, may select components, making it crucial that the units interconnect.
Therefore, different de-facto standards of connectors are often found. The standard connectors, however, may be used with different voltages. For example, units are often used with 120 volt power supplies for incandescent fixtures, for example. Other units, for example for arc type light fixtures, often use 208 volts, usually via a 2 phase supply. Systems may also use 220 volts or other voltages.
Standard 19 pin cables and connectors are currently used industrywide to distribute electrical power to six circuit loads of lighting instruments that usually handle up to 20 amperes. These connectors are often called Socapex connectors. Many different types and different brands of these connectors are in use. One of these is available from the assignee of this application, TMB, Inc.
A representative one of these connectors is diagrammed in FIGS. 1A–1D. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a female version of the connector in which female contacts 100 are placed in a substantially concentric array, around a central pin 19. The male connector is shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D and includes the male pins 105 which mate with the respective female pins 19. Any male connector of this type can be plugged into any female connector of this type.
A standard wiring layout of these cables is also typically used. The standard wiring that is used is in Table 1.
TABLE 1CIRCUIT NUMBERHOTNEUTRALGROUNDCircuit 1pin 1pin 2pin 13Circuit 2pin 3pin 4pin 14Circuit 3pin 5pin 6pin 15Circuit 4pin 7pin 8pin 16Circuit 5pin 9 pin 10pin 17Circuit 6 pin 11 pin 12pin 18